What's the difference between micro-entity and dormant accounts?
By DormantFile · Updated 1 June 2026
Both are simplified accounts a small company files with Companies House, but they describe different situations.
- Dormant accounts say nothing happened. They are filed when the company has had no significant accounting transactions at all in the period. The balance sheet is nil (or just the nominal value of issued shares), and there is a statement that the company was dormant throughout.
- Micro-entity accounts (FRS 105) say almost nothing happened, and here's the little that did. They are filed when the company isn't trading but has had a transaction or two — most commonly a loan it's repaying. The balance sheet shows the real figures (the loan, the cash), but it stays short, and no profit and loss account is filed.
What decides which you file
One question: did the company have any significant accounting transactions?
- None at all → dormant accounts.
- Some, but the company still isn't trading (e.g. repaying a Bounce Back Loan from its own account) → micro-entity accounts.
- It's actually trading → neither; it needs full or small-company accounts and an accountant.
In both the first two cases the CT600 is still nil. With DormantFile you choose dormant or micro-entity at filing time — see how it works.